So today I gave out my the specification for a group project to my Databases and the Web class (lecture 3) and discussed a web database design technique that I wanted them to follow in the project. Lo! and behold! my lack of surprise when a dozen or-so (out of 50) left at the "5 minutes I'm exhausted and so are you" mid-lecture break. I thought I was presenting a vaguely interesting workthrough example but obviously that's not enough! I even noticed the student who spoke to me after lecture 2 sneaking out and she'd said she was finding everything difficult -- what kind of extra help will she expect in the future?! Blimey...

Hmmm that reminds me though: When she spoke to me (started with a bad question: Can you help? None of it makes sense.) I said: Read the slides, work out what you still don't understand and bring me a list of question. She never got back to me! Quelle surprise... What students get out of module is often related to what they put in: GIGO!